Scalable methods for immune repertoire sequencing

Our immune system is a complex network of cells and proteins designed to identify and eliminate cancer and infection. At the center of this lies the interaction between the T cell receptor (TCR) and antigens presented through peptide-major histocompatibility complexes (pMHCs). Our ability to detect...

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Main Author: Holec, Patrick
Other Authors: Birnbaum, Michael E.
Format: Thesis
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2023
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/148289
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author Holec, Patrick
author2 Birnbaum, Michael E.
author_facet Birnbaum, Michael E.
Holec, Patrick
author_sort Holec, Patrick
collection MIT
description Our immune system is a complex network of cells and proteins designed to identify and eliminate cancer and infection. At the center of this lies the interaction between the T cell receptor (TCR) and antigens presented through peptide-major histocompatibility complexes (pMHCs). Our ability to detect disease relies on the heterogeneity found on both sides of this equation, yet technologies to characterize either antigen presentation or TCR diversity at a repertoire scale are rarely economical or scalable. In this thesis, we discuss two separate advances in immune repertoire sequencing. In the first aim, we describe a high-throughput tool to identify antigenic peptides capable of being presented on class I MHCs. This platform utilizes yeast surface display as a means to separate binding peptide from non-binding peptide. We then use this technique to screen for antigenic peptides derived from multiple pathogen proteomes across eighteen MHC alleles, resulting in a catalog of new antigens to further characterize. In my second aim, we explore integrated experimental and computational approaches for sequencing TCR repertoires. To do this, we focus on algorithmic approaches to recover TCRα and TCRβ pairings in noisy datasets. By developing a new Bayesian framework, we are able to increase pairing efficiency and computation speed. Finally, we describe how this framework primed the development of a novel T cell sequencing strategy. This method, spatial TCR deconvolution, amplifies TCR transcripts from cells lysed in solution and uses barcoded beads as a molecular beacon to record spatial proximity. Preliminary results suggest the barcoded transcripts produced have the potential to recover TCR pairings at scale.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1482892023-03-03T03:23:18Z Scalable methods for immune repertoire sequencing Holec, Patrick Birnbaum, Michael E. Love, J. Christopher Walker, Bruce Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering Our immune system is a complex network of cells and proteins designed to identify and eliminate cancer and infection. At the center of this lies the interaction between the T cell receptor (TCR) and antigens presented through peptide-major histocompatibility complexes (pMHCs). Our ability to detect disease relies on the heterogeneity found on both sides of this equation, yet technologies to characterize either antigen presentation or TCR diversity at a repertoire scale are rarely economical or scalable. In this thesis, we discuss two separate advances in immune repertoire sequencing. In the first aim, we describe a high-throughput tool to identify antigenic peptides capable of being presented on class I MHCs. This platform utilizes yeast surface display as a means to separate binding peptide from non-binding peptide. We then use this technique to screen for antigenic peptides derived from multiple pathogen proteomes across eighteen MHC alleles, resulting in a catalog of new antigens to further characterize. In my second aim, we explore integrated experimental and computational approaches for sequencing TCR repertoires. To do this, we focus on algorithmic approaches to recover TCRα and TCRβ pairings in noisy datasets. By developing a new Bayesian framework, we are able to increase pairing efficiency and computation speed. Finally, we describe how this framework primed the development of a novel T cell sequencing strategy. This method, spatial TCR deconvolution, amplifies TCR transcripts from cells lysed in solution and uses barcoded beads as a molecular beacon to record spatial proximity. Preliminary results suggest the barcoded transcripts produced have the potential to recover TCR pairings at scale. Ph.D. 2023-03-02T19:34:45Z 2023-03-02T19:34:45Z 2022-09 2023-02-07T20:24:26.913Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/148289 0000-0003-2342-7616 In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright MIT http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Holec, Patrick
Scalable methods for immune repertoire sequencing
title Scalable methods for immune repertoire sequencing
title_full Scalable methods for immune repertoire sequencing
title_fullStr Scalable methods for immune repertoire sequencing
title_full_unstemmed Scalable methods for immune repertoire sequencing
title_short Scalable methods for immune repertoire sequencing
title_sort scalable methods for immune repertoire sequencing
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/148289
work_keys_str_mv AT holecpatrick scalablemethodsforimmunerepertoiresequencing